Canzona quarti toni

Christian Erbach (1568-1635) was influenced by Froberger, Hassler, and others. His works show off the colors of South German traditions.

I just purchased the Baumeister sample set, so I'm still experimenting. But here's something I discovered already. Whereas on a more modern instrument, you may only have one choice of a suitable registration for this canzona, on the Baumeister, I tried every combination imaginable, and they were all joys to play and hear.

For the purposes of recording, this is what I did and chose.

1. The first time through the piece, I played on the spitzfloete, quintaton, and gambas (all 8') on the hauptwerk. I played the canzona straight, as written, and pretty strictly in time with a steady tempo. There's a section in the middle where the time signature changes from cut time to being in three. I kept the main pulse (or tried to), so you hear it as a 6/4 or similar.

2. In the transition to the repeat of the canzona, I switched registrations to a colorful principal chorus on the hauptwerk (8, 4, 2, and quint 3). By adding in upper registers, I was able to embellish the canzona on the repeat and everything stays clear and transparent still, like a diva does an aria in the repeat during Baroque times. Since canzona means song, I think this makes sense to do. Also, like a diva does, I took a little more liberty with the tempos, time changes, cadences, and the like.

3. For both the first time through and for the repeats, I employed historical fingerings for the runs (as researched and published by Sondra Soderlund), so there is significant grouping, which gives a unique articulation that is quite different from how we do things today.

Technical information:

Perspectives--direct 100, indirect 46, church 64.
Ambient and organ noises--75. Temperament--Baumeister-Reconstructed.